Remembrance
by midnite-republic
Summary: Because how many Admirals can say a pirate helped them. First FanFic, May suck.


_Author note: This is my first FanFic, so it may suck. The Characters in this story don't det much of a metion in Fics so I thought I'd write one for them._

_Disclaimer: One. Piece. Not. Mine.  
_

**Remembrance**

A Marine ship was anchored for the night in a peaceful stretch of ocean, every crew member who wasn't on watch duty were gathered in the galley or mess for dinner.

Tonight the ranking officers were telling stories of how they came to join the Marines for the entertainment of the crew, but especially for the new recruits who had joined them for this voyage. Also joining them where were a Marine Admiral and his ever present Vice Admiral companion.

It had surprised most of the crew the first meal-time of the voyage when the two highly respected men joined them in the mess and didn't ask for any special treatment from the crew, but everyone had gotten used to it quickly and now they were actively listening to the tales that were being told. As the captain finished his tale one of the braver recruits having heard many of the tales told in the Marines about the Admirals asked a question that many had wondered about the truth of.

"So, how did the Admirals join?"

The two highest ranking men in the room looked at each other before cracking up laughing.

"We joined at the same time," the Vice Admiral told the now very interested crew after calming down somewhat. "Though we had very different opinions in the beginning."

" 'It's all his fault' as you like to say, huh?" the Admiral nudged his companion. "I guess it was though, we would never have made it without him."

By now the mess was silent and the galley workers had come in to stand, all hoping the two would elaborate on their now seemingly private conversation, all there had heard rumours made up to try and explain the two but they all wanted to hear the truth, wondering if it was stranger than fiction.

"How about you tell? You can probably tell it better than me." The Vice Admiral asked his companion.

"From the beginning? Well, I guess that would be the least confusing place" The Admiral laughed before turning to the crew and beginning.

"Well, first I guess I have to warn you that before I was nothing like I am now, and you may not believe any of what we say but since you asked we'll tell.

"It all started when I was a prisoner cabin boy on a pirate ship." The whole crew gasped with shock. _What was he saying? Was it true? One of the Marine heroes a cabin boy on a pirate ship?_

Ignoring the mass shock the Admiral continued as he sunk into his memory. "We were from the East Blue and the captain's name was Alvida, a big fish in the quite sea of back then.

"I spent two years on that ship until _**He**_ came.

"The first time I saw him, he was jumping out of barrel, to be honest that kind of freaked me out. But then after getting out of the barrel he told me a little about himself. I thought he was insane at first, getting into a barrel to survive a giant whirlpool, asking for just a dingy, telling me he was going to be "King of the Pirates" without any hesitation." The crew were now staring at the Admiral in complete, shocked silence, a couple of jaws looking as if they were about to meet the floor.

The only one not shocked by the story was the Vice Admiral who had heard the tale many times over the years, and was currently smiling and shaking his head at the reaction to the story wondering how big the reaction would get for the rest of the tale or when they found out who _**He**_ was. His smile only got bigger as his companion continued and he slowly sunk into his own memories.

"He hit me saying I was hysterical when I tried to explain how dangerous his dream was, it seemed he already knew the dangers though and was gonna try anyway, "I set myself to become King of the Pirates, and if I die trying, then at least I tried!" I'm pretty sure that's what he said, or something along those lines anyway, I remember the conviction behind the words more than the words themselves.

"He had guts, determination and he wasn't afraid to die, his courage and conviction seemed to give me some of my own. At least enough to finally say what I'd always wanted to say to Alvida." The Admiral laughed at his memory before continuing.

"That was when I found out he wasn't just talk but strong as well, taking Alvida down in one punch and ordering the rest of the crew to give me a dingy so I could go join the Marines.

"He joined me in the dingy because he wanted to find out about a certain bounty hunter who was said to be imprisoned at the nearest Marine base. It was in our time in the dingy that I found out that not only was he seemingly completely insane but he also had absolutely no sense of direction."

As the Admiral said this one of the older officers whispered to himself after remembering one of the old rumours he had heard a long time ago. _"They couldn't have been right, right?"_

But the Admiral continued. "The captain of the base was Captain Morgan, whose name alone scared the townspeople. Of course, we didn't know that at the time and just thought they were acting weird.

"We found the Marine base and he found the bounty hunter he was looking for strung up in the execution yard, in that yard was the first time I saw the Vice-Admiral."

"Hmm." Was all the Vice-Admiral said to this, looking away from his companion. _Is he blushing?_

"Anyway, when he was gone, _**He**_ went over the wall to talk to the bounty hunter who laughed when he asked him to join his crew and said he had made a deal and was going to honour it by surviving the month strung up and then have his name cleared.

"We were in town when we were told that the bounty hunter was being punished for trying to help and that Morgan was abusing his power as captain. When we heard that the Marines at the base weren't going to hold up their end of the bounty hunter's deal, _**He**_ lost his temper and stormed the base to get him out."

The Vice-Admiral was now seemingly trying really hard not to laugh, while the rest of the room was hanging on the Admiral's every word all wondering how it ended and trying to work out how the Vice-Admiral was there.

"They did get out. Took Morgan down too." He said as he finally seemed to come out of his memories.

"Thanks." The Vice-Admiral whispered to the Admiral, before continuing to the still intently listening to learn the ending. "It was while Morgan was being transferred to Marine command for punishment for abuse of power that we caught the eye of our mentor."

"Of cause we had to prove ourselves before he actually did anything." The Admiral added.

"I think that's it. Whose story was next?" The Vice-Admiral asked, not particularly wanting to think about those particular times.

Their audience was completely silent for a few more minutes before they realised they weren't going to say more about that. Then they started whispering to themselves about what they had just heard not sure whether they actually believed it.

But as the Admirals saw that no one else was going to tell their stories they stood up to excuse themselves to do some work the same recruit that had asked them for their story asked them another question.

"So, what happened to _**Him**_? Did he ever get anywhere? Did the bounty hunter end up joining him?"

Once again the recruit's question was met with laughter, only this time they started to roll on the floor and couldn't compose themselves until after a good 10 minutes. After catching their breath (completely ignoring the odd looks they were now getting) they answered seriously.

"Oh, yes. They joined up and got pretty far." They then turned to leave before being stopped by another question.

"So, what were their names?"

This time they didn't burst into laughter, instead they just shared a look before turning to the room, the people in which were all looking at them with curiosity in their eyes.

"Their names were Luffy and Zoro." The Admiral told them with a smile as jaws dropped as some Marines recognised the famous names.

"Though you may be more familiar with the names _Straw Hat_ Monkey. D Luffy and _Pirate Hunter_ Roronoa Zoro." The Vice-Admiral added as he watched the entire room look at them in disbelief, most jaws now touching the ground.

As Admiral Coby and Vice-Admiral Helmeppo left the mess the Marines realised the true significance of their story.

They had been brought to where they were by The Pirate King and the World's Greatest Swordsman, almost as if fate had brought 4 of the most powerful men in the seas to meet at the start of their journey.

* * *

_Author's Note: I know it seems as though the way Coby and Helmeppo accually met was completely skipped but I believe that if they get this far together then Helmeppo will have done enough to convince Coby that he isn't like that anymore and they wouldn't like mentioning it in public, though they probably still joke about it privately. Please remember that this is my first fic so ConCrit is welcomed._


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